A man who allegedly shot and killed a woman in Brampton, then took off with their toddler – sparking a provincewide Amber Alert – was gunned down by a cop in Niagara Falls gas station early Wednesday.
Niagara Regional Police say the officer-involved shooting happened at a gas station on Thorold Stone Rd., just west of Montrose Rd., around 2:30 a.m.
After finding the couple’s one-year-old daughter safe with a family member, officers located a vehicle containing Anthony Deschepper and “members of the NRPS Emergency Task Unit (ETU) became involved with that vehicle.”
“Following an interaction with officers, a male was pronounced deceased at the scene,” police said, adding no officers were injured in the confrontation.
Woman found shot at plaza
The hunt for the 38-year-old man began after a woman was fatally shot in a plaza parking lot near Airport Rd. and Queen St. in Brampton shortly before 2 p.m.
The woman’s name was not immediately released by Peel Regional Police, who are investigating her murder, but cops have deemed her deadly shooting as a case of intimate partner violence.
Posts on social media claim the woman was a mother of four.
Deschepper fled the area in a black 2024 Nissan Kicks with the Quebec licence plate FRV4520 with his daughter, Skyla-Rose Deschepper, in the back seat.
Niagara Regional Police said Tuesday evening on social media that they believed Deschepper was in the Crystal Beach area of Fort Erie and asked residents near Prospect Point and Ridgeway Rd. to shelter in place.
“Lock all windows and doors and do not open doors to unknown persons,” police said in a statement.
One-year-old daughter found safe with family
Niagara Regional Police Const. Rich Hingley told reporters on Wednesday that his service received information that the child subject of that Amber Alert was found safe in Niagara around 5 p.m.
“However, the male subject of the Amber Alert was still outstanding,” he said at the gas station where the deadly confrontation unfolded.
“We received evidence that took us to Crystal Beach and based on that evidence, the shelter in place was put in,” Hingley said. “That was to ensure not only the public safety but the safety of our officers while they were looking for the subject, who was believed to be armed at the time as a result of the Peel information.
“That subject left the area and at some other point during the evening, we gained information that he was in the area of Niagara Falls and that was what precipitated the contact here at the gas station,” he said.
Deschepper was a passenger in a Chevrolet SUV when he was fatally shot.
Hingley said a woman who was driving the SUV was taken into custody.
“Charges are pending,” he said, explaining the woman, who was not immediately identified, could face “accessory and abetting” charges.
The Nissan Kicks that Deschepper was initially driving has been recovered.
Neither Niagara nor Peel Regional Police released any further details.
One Niagara Regional Police officer opened fire
Ontario’s Special Investigations unit, which probes any serious injury or death involving cops, is investigating the police-involved shooting of Deschepper.
SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette, who updated media at the gas station, said Niagara officers were tracking Deschepper and caught up with him at Gales gas bar around 2:30 a.m.
“There was an interaction involving the man and the officers,” she said. “And then there was a discharge of a firearm at the man.
“The man was struck multiple times,” Denette said, explaining paramedics responded and administered first aid but Deschepper died at the scene.
She said SIU investigators spent the morning collecting evidence, including video footage, and interviewing witnesses “to paint a picture of what happened.”
“What precipitated the shooting is basically what the SIU is investigating,” Denette said. “There was a firearm that was recovered at the scene that belonged to the male individual, but as far as what happened prior to police firing the weapon, that’s what we’re investigating right now.”
She said it’s believed only one officer opened fire during the confrontation.
Investigations by the SIU, Niagara Regional Police and Peel Regional Police are ongoing.
Previously accused of 2023 shooting
Deschepper was previously accused of another shooting in Brampton a couple of years ago.
He was identified as a suspect in a shooting at a residence on Sept. 30, 2023, where nobody was injured.
Deschepper was wanted on several firearms offences, including unauthorized possession of firearm and possession contrary to order, and at the time Peel Regional Police stated he had ties to Brampton, Milton, Orangeville, Tottenham and Arthur.
After four weeks on the run, Waterloo Regional Police arrested Deschepper on an outstanding warrant and returned him to Peel Region.
The outcome of those charges was not immediately known.
